Yellowtail snapper hiding in sponge

Shot at St. Thomas USVI on March 13 using an Olympus E-PL3 with Olympus housing and single S&S ys-110a strobe on an 8" arm. I used auto tone in PS5.5, and cropped the image to move the subject a little closer to center (I intentionally did not center the subject entirely .. so critique away if you don't like).

42mm 1/60 sec ISO 200 f/5.6

Attached Images

ugh .. when I converted to 700 pixels and a 100K jpg, I lost a lot of color tone especially reds!? It looks way way better on my original. First pic above is fixed version. I changed the sampling type on reduction and increased JPG quality a bit and now its better.

just a quick observation.... but where was your focus point. i understand that you recomposed but it looks on the first image that the focus point was on the sponge behind the fish and then it was not either locked or moved on my D90 i move it about the frame or hold down my focus lock and then recompose - i am not familiar with your camera so i cannot help on specific operation! also perhaps it was moving and a slightly higher shutter speed would have helped?

just a quick observation.... but where was your focus point. i understand that you recomposed but it looks on the first image that the focus point was on the sponge behind the fish and then it was not either locked or moved on my D90 i move it about the frame or hold down my focus lock and then recompose - i am not familiar with your camera so i cannot help on specific operation! also perhaps it was moving and a slightly higher shutter speed would have helped?

how are you finding the PL3 a freind of mine has one coming...

I used the continuous focus + target tracking for this - the snapper was the target (target is marked in the viewfinder with a box) but I think the depth of field was lacking. Except for the lips, I think the fish itself is adequately in focus (do you think otherwise?). However, the front edge of the sponge could have been in focus if I had noticed.

I really like the PL3 underwater. Very easy to handle and a big improvement over my Nikon D5000/Nimar setup. This was my first very short (4 dive) trip with it so I did not get a chance to really explore enough - I did not do any macro, and I used automatic exposure and TTL flash metering for most shots. I also forgot to bring two very important parts that killed a lot of my shots (missing was a small plastic mask for the internal flash which resulted in shadowing and spot overexpsoure; and an internal light blocking metal "antireflective shield" (like a flat donut)). I am waiting for some opportunities to take it down in Lake Michigan this spring to really test it out. I also now have the well-reviewed UFL-2 which should deliver much improved TTL control as the camera will control both the intensity and width of the strobe directly through the olympus RC system. I have a review on the gear review page for the PL3 that I will update as soon as I shoot again with the UFL-2.